Company Town Creates A Great Getaway

April 11, 1999|By Helen J. Anderson. Special to the Tribune.

In the latter half of the 19th Century, Austrian immigrant John Michael Kohler stepped onto the shore of Sheboygan, Wis., and met and married a girl whose family was in the foundry business. In late 1873, he established the Kohler Co., producer of agricultural implements, enameled horse troughs and kitchen sinks.

It was the start of something big.

In 1900, the manufacturer moved his plant 4 miles west to a sparsely settled, bucolic community called Riverside, in a bow to the Sheboygan River. A dozen years later, the territory was incorporated as the tiny Village of Kohler. By 1918, with paternalism still in vogue, its centerpiece was the American Club, which provided room, board and laundry service for Austrian, Dutch, German and Russian immigrant factory workers, who paid $27.50 per month for the privilege of living there.

Today, John Michael Kohler would hardly know the old place. Under a 50-year master plan developed jointly in 1977 by the village, Kohler Co. and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the town, which boasts more than 4,000 acres within its boundaries, is a model of trim, well-kept dwellings, cleanliness and safety. In 1981, the American Club was opened as a luxury resort hotel with world-class golf courses that host professional tournaments. Still led by Kohler family members, the privately held plumbing-fixture, engine and generator company has successfully segued into other businesses: hospitality, sports and fitness, home furnishings, land development and real estate.

The Shops at Woodlake Kohler, a series of upscale retail stores overlooking Wood Lake, give new meaning to the phrase "shop 'til you drop." Here are a just a few of the places to explore:

Artifactual Antiques, 765D Woodlake Rd., 920-458-0655 or 888-457-3246. A gallery of fine antiques, among them a circa 1860 banquet table ($6,800), a series of magnificent cupboards ($4,500 to $10,000) and Gallia crystal from Slovenia in an 80-year-old pattern ($40 per stem), plus lamps, silver, porcelain, primitives and tools, some bearing familiar names including Sevres, Lalique, Baccarat and Meissen. If you are looking for items no longer in production add them to the store's search file. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Ecole de Cuisine, 765H Woodlake Rd., 920-451-9151. Wannabe gourmets beat a path to owner Jill Prescott's door, where she presents techniques of classic French cooking during daytime classes, weekend seminars and intensive weeklong courses. Chances are, traffic will increase with the debut of "Ecole de Cuisine's Professional Cooking for the Home Chef," her new PBS television series. Check out the kitchen classroom and the cookware for sale. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

The Kohler Design Center, 101 Upper Rd., 920-457-3699. More than two dozen model bathrooms and kitchens assembled by members of the American Society of Interior Designers are displayed, with consultants on hand to answer questions. Depart from the Design Center at 8:30 a.m. weekdays (except holidays) for a Kohler Co. factory tour to see production of vitreous china and enameled cast-iron plumbing products. Visitors must be at least 14 years old. Advance reservations are required.